Slackin'

I must admit this weekend was very relaxing. I didn't do a whole lot of anything. Sure, I might have tossed in a couple loads of laundry whenever the thought crossed my mind, but most of my weekend was spent sitting on my butt. I read. I played Final Fantasy XII. I watched television - although I must admit there's not a whole lot to watch right now!

Friday night the family, minus one child, went over to Ken and Terri's. While the guys did manly things like changing the brakes on her car and giving mine a quick tune-up, Terri and I played around with Facebook and chit-chatted. By the time we decided to pack up and head home our youngest had fallen asleep, so we ended up leaving him there. Wohoo! One night with no kids!

It would have really been nice if I wouldn't have gotten up bright and early Saturday morning to go kickboxing. Totally ruined a perfectly good chance to sleep in!

Even better, we let both of the boys invite a friend over to spend the night Saturday. They got along pretty well. Mostly. I only had to get after them a couple of times.

Sunday I did kickboxing again. Went scrapbooking at my sister's. Got a phone call that my SIL, Kellie, was having the baby. For those of you with access to my Facebook account, you can see the pictures here.

And that was my weekend. You'll notice there was no writing and no homework involved. I didn't even do the morning pages! In fact, I didn't even THINK about the morning pages until today.

Morning pages & The Artist's Way

So one of the key assignments from the Artist's Way is to write 3 pages a day. These pages are supposed to be done as soon as you wake up in the morning and they don't have to make a lick of sense unless you want them to. Oh, and they must be done in long hand.

Ew.

I'd rather type.

But the book says to do them the hard way, so that's what I'm doing.

Can I just say that writing three pages by hand every MORNING is damn difficult. Mornings are not my best time. I'm lucky to pull myself together in time to get the kids on the bus. Writing three pages by hand before leaving the house is going to be impossible. So, I need to figure out when I can do them during the day or if they'll still be beneficial in the evenings after I get home from work.

I'd probably have more to say after I get home from work, that's for sure. A whole day's worth of frustrations and thoughts to capture.

I'm going to try it. It may not be following the advice exactly as its given, but I think the three pages is more about clearing the cobwebs than anything else, so it might work.

On one last writing related note: Just started Chapter 26. I have about 106K done and probably 15K left to go. I listed everything that I need to have happen between now and then and the list is long. Wish me luck!

My Hubby is Going to Kill Me

But sometimes I just can't seem to help myself. Sometimes the urge to browse aisle after aisle of bookshelves is too much to fight. So I go and I browse and I buy.

Today was one of those days when I just needed a break from the office. Usually I sit at my desk and eat a frozen entree while reading a novel or doing homework. Today I wanted out. I needed a breather. The desire to escape had little to do with work and more to do with the damn gloomy weather outside my window.

So I decided to brave the rain/snow mix and head off toward Barnes & Nobles. I ate at the Starbucks Cafe (jeez, is that expensive!) and bought a couple of books. At least one of them was a bargain book! The other two were not and I probably could have done without them, but that wicked little voice inside told me I'd find them indespensible. It told me to go ahead and splurge. Damnable little voice!

So I bought The Historian (my bargain book for less than $5) and The Artist's Way and one of its companion books. The little book made me cry, right there in the middle of the store. Seriously, tears were falling, people. The smaller of the two books is more inspirational than anything else, like little messages from God.

I know. I am lame.

I don't care.

I've been on a creative kick lately, reading and researching it, trying to find ways to nourish it. Not only for myself but for my kids. That clip I posted last week really got me thinking. It also happened to scare the crap out of me!

Thoughts on the WIP

While I haven't been doing much writing on the WIP, I have been thinking about it an awful lot. Now that I"m approaching the climax and denouement, I have to solidify a few things. While I've had a general idea of how to work in the MIA angel, Abrianna, the time has come to put the pieces of the puzzle together and reveal them to the reader. The hope is that it doesn't seem too convenient. I hate that!

This is so me...

Getting Back Into the Groove

Yeah...that's not easy when other obligations interfered with the writing flow for nearly two weeks. Even though getting back into the story should be easy, I'm lacking the willpower to even bother opening the WIP. I'd really rather just take a nap.

Book Review: The Rose of Shanhasson

Now that the term paper from hell is behind me, I can get back to things I enjoy, like reading! You may remember that during the time I was researching and writing on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, I won a copy of The Rose of Shanhasson by Joely Sue Burkhart. I was very excited and honored to receive this e-book. I've been following Joely's blog for some time now and have been treated to various snippets of her past and current projects.

It took me two days to read all 319 pages of The Rose of Shanhasson. If I hadn't had several interuptions to contend with, I likely would have finished it even sooner. The story moved very quickly and drew me right in. Of course, I'm always a sucker for a romance. That being said, you should know this isn't your typical romance. Far from it.

Aside from the fantasy elements interwoven into the land and characters, there is a darkness and a desperation that can only be combatted by the power and light of love. But, wait! There's more! I've read other romances with love triangles, but none quite like Burkhart's. The connection between the three main characters is as unique as any I've ever seen. I don't want to give too much away here, so I'll just move on to my only complaint I had with the book.

It ended too soon!

I kept trying to scroll down, certain there had to be more. Of course, there is, but it's not in this story. Although I don't have it on the author's authority, I'm pretty sure the continuation is under construction in Gregar's book. If it's not, I may have to shake Joely up just a little, because this story is far from over...

What are your thoughts?

I won!

I am so excited! I really didn't think I had a chance of winning, but I entered anyway. Mainly because you just never know. I'm so glad I took a moment or two out of my day to throw my name in the hat, because I actually managed to land a free copy of Joely Sue Burkhart's Rose of Shanhasson.

Of course, the timing of this particular prize landing in my inbox is not optimal. I'm supposed to be doing research for my term paper, not getting lost in another great read.

You Probably Don't Care, But...

I managed to get some research done while I was out of town. Not a lot, mind you, but some. This means I had to spend a few hours today reading a couple more of my sources. If I can manage to force out the first two pages of my paper before going to bed tonight, I will be happy.

There. Homework update is out of the way.

Now onto more interesting things like Upward basketball, scrapbooking, and writing. Yes, the height of excitment is right here on this blog. Can you stand it?

Hmmm..basketball first.

The kidlets had their last games of the season today. My youngest did not fare well. However, a loss is much sweeter when its followed by a free basketball and some cheap toys earned through fund-raising efforts.

My oldest, on the other hand, won his game by a wide margin. My little man was up and down that court, shooting one basket after another. (I think he scored at least 10 points, maybe more.) Of course, the other team was a player short and had to borrow one of our kids, so I'm not sure this game was a fair assessment of anyone's skill level. Still, I'm proud of the little man. He didn't do the same run again and again and again. He actually shot the ball from various spots on the court! That's huge, people. Huge.

Okay...Basketball update is done.

That leaves scrapbooking and writing, both of which I have done little to nothing on for the last week. I did paint a few pieces of chipboard today. Oh, And I got an idea for the title and journalling I want to do for the page.

Writing update is even more dismal. I haven't touched the WIP in days. I figure this research paper will consume my free time and that this will remain true for the next several days.

Some Mid-Week Goals

So I'm going out of town for a couple days. My office is sending me across the state to a K12 conference (we'd like to convince a few of the teachers to take either professional development or graduate credit with our institution). When I'm not manning a booth and smoozing with potential students, I will be alone in my hotel room.

This is a good thing, but not for the reason you might first suspect.

The hope is that I might actually get some homework done. I know. I'm shocked by the whole idea, too!

I really need to get my little butt busy, though, on the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome paper I'm supposed to have done in two weeks. I have a smidgeon of work done on it, but nothing substantial. And I need substantial. Substantial amounts of info will be required for the 12-15 pages I'm supposed to whip out over the next two weeks...

So that's what I plan on doing during my free hours for the next two nights. Research and more research. Note taking and outlining. This should enable me to start actually composing the paper this weekend.

Someday I will stop procrastinating....someday I will start working on a project the very week its announced.

One Last Thing..

I've turned in everything but my letter of intent. Oh, I've written said letter and asked for feedback, but my proof reader has yet to respond to the rough draft I sent her. This makes me think it sucks.

Okay. So I could probably write something a bit more engaging. But what do you go for? Engaging or professional? How much personal do you mix in? Should I mention things like I'm working on a novel right now? Should I tell them I've been honored to receive private mentoring from a published author? Should I toot my horn and admit I've just been nominated for Phi Alpha Theta by one of my professors?

Monday Update

What a busy weekend.

Friday I stayed home instead of going into work because my youngest had been up in the middle of the night with "growing pains". I don't know what else to call them. Like my brothers, both of my boys suffer from this strange affliction. Whenever they go through a growth spurt, they have to deal with their legs or ankles aching. This time the pain woke my 7-year-old from a sound sleep around two in the morning. We used a heating pad, Icy-Hot treatment, and some Motrin. The little guy still complained. To say I was tired when the alarm clock went off at 5:30 AM would be an understatement.

And if you don't know, I don't do very well with broken sleep. Being overly tired for me usually equates to nausea and shakiness. It's weird, but true.

So I stayed home. Thank God for sick days.

After catching up on my sleep I managed to get the laundry going and sat down to start writing the paper for my AFA class on the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Can I just say this is one of the worst topics I've had in years? I would have much rather have picked a more interesting organization or person or event. Never in a million years would have I selected this.

Saturday we were up bright and early for basketball. Then I had a few people come over to scrapbook before we all headed over a surprise birthday party for a friend of ours. I didn't get to sleep until a little after 2 AM.

Sunday we celebrated my oldest boy's 10th birthday with my husband's family. This required the baking of two pies. After everyone left, I tried catching up on my sleep. You might think this two hour nap made it impossible for me to sleep last night, but you'd be wrong. Thanks to this lovely cold I've caught, I took some Benedryl before bedtime. Once I stopped sniffling and clearing my throat every five seconds I fell deep asleep.

So, if you missed it, I didn't have any time to spend on the WIP this weekend. So no progress there. Since I need to use my lunch hour and possibly the two hours after work to get ready for class tonight, I probably won't be writing today either.